Help please, shipped eggs...

[Lady Shawn]

I set 3 different breeds of chickens on the 31st of January and a couple of days later set some quail so they would hatch together. Its day 22, no pipping. I lost 1 breed as they weren't fertilized at all, but the others have all grown on time and were viable at lockdown. This is my first rodeo for shipped eggs. I've always just hatched my own or friends.
I'm scared they aren't going to hatch and have already (my daughter included) had a few moments of utter crying meltdowns (thanks PMS).

Humidity has been a challenge to keep over 55. Temps have been a consistent 100 throughout. I have a wet towel in there to help with humidity. There are several gauges in there.
As I was typing I noticed a single quail has pipped. Maybe all hope is not lost.
Is this normal to take so long for shipped eggs? Also, is it normal for an educated health care professional to be so emotional over hatching eggs?

 

[sourland]

Good luck for a successful hatch. Lowered temps (did you calibrate your thermometers) can extend incubation period. PMS effects have no respect for degree of education. Good luck for a successful hatch.

 

[RoosterML]

I am just about done hatching shipped eggs. They say a 50% hatch rate is what you should expect.
Started with 18 shipped eggs and 7 hatced with 1 egg still in incubator so that's just under 40%

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Is your incubator still air? If so it might be too low of a temp. They could hatch out a day or two late.
Yes, it's normal for everyone to experience emotions ofc. Even my partner, who is a cis dude and engineer, freaks out when our eggs don't hatch well - no PMS hormones there. Last time he was particularly upset that "only" 12/18 eggs hatched, even tho some of the eggs we set were a full 2 weeks old. He was sad we didn't get all of them. (There were some dramatic circumstances surrounding the setting of those eggs and he had high hopes.) ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ And before that he was really upset that we lost 50% of a batch of chicks that got delayed when shipped in a snowstorm (I thought they'd all be DOA and was relieved any of them made it).

So like, things might be feeling worse right now but they'd 100% feel bad even without all those wild hormones. If I bought a ton of shipped eggs and they weren't hatching at all and I'd already lost a bunch my whole household would be super upset too. Angry and sad all at the same time.

All you can do now is check your temps, make sure everything it as close to ideal as you can get, and wait. Then troubleshoot your incubator for next time. Good luck! I hope they all pip and hatch a day from now for you!

 

[nchls school]

As I was typing I noticed a single quail has pipped. Maybe all hope is not lost.
Is this normal to take so long for shipped eggs? Also, is it normal for an educated health care professional to be so emotional over hatching eggs?I don't think so.[/QUOTE]
It probably just seems long. Shipped eggs take no longer than eggs not shipped. The problem with shipped eggs is that they come damaged and so many are ruined.

I got a little emotional when I first saw the below. I've been trying for years to get a serama bantam under 10 ounces to be fertile. Her eggs are due to hatch next week.

 

[ChickenFox]

Shipped eggs are always a crap shoot. There are just too many variables to account for. 50% hatch to me would be great but that could mean you have none hatch one time and all hatch another.

I would definitely give them a couple more days and after this hatch make sure to calibrate the thermometer again and check it against others to be sure it's reading accurately.

When you mention the humidity did you mean you kept it at 55 and over for the entire incubation or just for lockdown?